A tough day for Sahara Force India at Monza

Suffering from brake issues, Adrian Sutil retired on the penultimate lap to be classified P16.

It was a tough day for Sahara Force India with points being out of reach for Adrian Sutil despite a very strong drive. Suffering from brake issues, he retired on the penultimate lap to be classified P16. Paul Di Resta retired on lap one after contact at the second chicane.

Adrian Sutil, Sahara Force India VJM06

Photo by: XPB Images

Adrian Sutil (P16 - Tyre strategy: Used Medium, New Hard): “A tough race today and in the end we had to retire the car because of issues with the brakes. I tried my best and I don’t think we could have delivered any more because I was on the limit throughout the race.

The pit stop was good, but the team had to hold me on the exit because Maldonado was coming in, which meant I lost a position to Gutierrez. I was able to pass him again on the track, but there were some quick cars [Kimi and Lewis] with fresher tyres and there was no way to hold them off. Points were not too far away, but overall we didn’t have the pace this weekend.”

Paul Di Resta (DNF Tyre strategy: Used medium): “It has been one of those weekends to forget, starting with the brake failure yesterday and the early retirement today. I just got caught out going into the second chicane because the cars ahead of me got backed up – I guess they were reacting to the tussle going on ahead of them. I locked both fronts trying to stop the car and ended up hitting Grosjean. Unfortunately it was too late to take avoiding action. Now we need to look forward to Singapore and put this one behind us.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director: “We leave Monza empty-handed after a difficult weekend. We’ve struggled for pace and had our share of misfortune. Paul’s race was over on lap one after contact with Grosjean at the second chicane, which was very disappointing. Adrian had a better start, made up some ground and moved onto the tail of the top ten.

He drove a strong race with a great overtaking move on Gutierrez, but was missing the speed to fight for points. In the closing laps we were forced to retire the car with concerns over the brakes. It’s clear we need to recapture the form we showed before the summer break if we are to continue fighting for fifth in the constructors’ championship.”